Uncle Mo no longer in the Kentucky Derby

Uncle Mo, the second morning-line favorite in the 137th running of the Kentucky Derby has been injured and will not run on Saturday at Churchill Downs. His trainer, Todd Pletcher’s decision was widely expected as the colt was diagnosed with more problems such as a gastrointestinal tract infection after his disappointing third-place finish in the Wood Memorial on April 9. Uncle Mo was among the few horses that spiked fans' attention with the many prizes he won before this year’s derby.

Since this year’s group is made of 19 three year old colts, Uncle Mo’s performances had been outstanding to shine in such a way. He was unbeaten in four career starts, including two grade one stakes events, before finishing third in the Wood at Aqueduct in New York. After that failure the Nick Zito-trained Dialed In has been installed by Churchill Downs track handicapper Mike Battaglia as the 4-1 morning-line favorite. As Brad Telias wrote earlier this week, Uncle Mo had several good workouts at the Churchill Downs in the past 10 days.

Still the colt appeared underweight and many around the track anticipated he’d be a late scratch. Pletcher mentioned at a conference that he tried taking Mo off the medicine. The results were not as expected. "We saw a little deterioration the last couple of days. The biggest thing I see is depressed appetite loss of weight and his haircoat’s not right." explained his trainer. Pletcher said veterinarians were “baffled” by Mo’s condition "He’s got one specific enzyme that’s elevated that has everyone baffled; they can’t identify why," Pletcher said Friday morning

Leave a Comment